


To Feel (A Thousand Threats - Prologue)

by Eddye_Robert



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Post-Peaceful Android Revolution (Detroit: Become Human), Prologue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:49:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24559441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eddye_Robert/pseuds/Eddye_Robert
Summary: After the events of Markus' peaceful revolution, Detroit became home to the androids who wanted to be free.Gavin Reed and his android partner RK900 (nicknamed Nines by Reed) followed their line of investigation together, tolerating and provoking each other along the way.After solving a case that deeply stirs Nines' systems, opening his eyes to the world, they both realize that there is more than just a partnership between them.
Relationships: Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Comments: 4
Kudos: 59





	To Feel (A Thousand Threats - Prologue)

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone, hope everyone is doing fine.
> 
> Just some notes about this story:
> 
> 1) This is originally a take off of my ongoing fanfic about Reed900. The original fic is being written in my first language (Portuguese), and I plan on posting it here when I complete her.  
> 2) Even though it's a prologue, when I finished writing I saw potential to be a solo one-shot, so this is the reason why I decided to post it now.  
> 3)Since I'm not an English fluent speaker, you will find some grammatical mistakes or something like that, I apologize in advance for that ><
> 
> Hope you like it :D

GAVIN

| JANUARY 11, 2038 - 09:37 |

It had been about two months since the android revolution in Detroit. Despite the supposedly satisfactory end in which the androids were now considered equal and entitled to the same rights as human beings, the cases they received from the police department involving crimes with android presence had tripled.

Hank and Connor could no longer handle all the cases alone, and even with the current help of Gavin and his present serious and reclusive partner RK900, the cases kept coming one after the other.

They had been working together since the first "plastic can" Connor had joined the department. Apparently one tin can was not enough to help the department and Cyberlife had sent another.

As if it wasn't enough to have to share space with a bunch of walking toasters, Gavin was forced to partner with one. Needless to say, this generated an aggravating discussion between Gavin and his boss Fowler that ended up getting nowhere but a threat from the boss that if he didn't do his job the way it was supposed to be done another warning would keep company for Gavin's already big file.

He didn't need much time working together to make them both hate each other and at every moment it would seem that a fight would arise, either inside the department or even at a crime scene.

The fact that RK900 showed extremely superior skills to Gavin in all kinds of investigations only brought even more resentment to the surface.

But all that drama had diminished in recent weeks. In a way, working with one of these androids on a daily basis ended up making Gavin more acceptable of their existence and less alarmed by the likelihood that one of them would take his place in the force and he would end up unemployed.

His relationship with his current partner Nines, a nickname he found himself calling RK900 one day and which he ended up taking after the other one didn't seem bothered, had improved to the point that instead of insults and curses exchanged, only small splinters with a sarcastic tone used to cover the air between the two of them.

He had noticed that Nines behaved and acted according to the way he was treated, and so Gavin can see that whatever program they put into these things, they were able to evolve over time.

"You're strangely quiet today, Detective. What are you thinking?" Gavin took his eyes off the wheel for a moment and looked back at his partner sitting on the next stool.

"You mean your ultra-technological readers aren't able to figure it out for themselves? They still say androids are advanced beings."

"In fact, we are beings of extreme superiority to you humans in many ways. But I don't think there are androids capable of reading emotions or thoughts. At least, not yet."

Gavin took a deep breath. Sometimes it was difficult to communicate with someone who could have such a strictly formal vocabulary.

"It's nothing," he said after a while, relaxing his fingers a little at the wheel "Maybe it's the lack of hours of sleep. These cases don't stop coming one after the other"

"You should know that although solving cases is our primary goal, a tired human mind doesn't work as effectively as a mind after a regular night's sleep" Gavin yawned low trying not to be obvious "At least that's what the experts say"

"I don't give a damn about these experts. I just want to do my job." Gavin grumbled.

Realizing that the car in front of him didn't left any room to overtake and also didn't go any faster, Gavin removed his belt and honked his head out of the window.

The driver in front must have pretended not to listen because the traffic kept going at the same speed.

"I bet you wish you had one of those light sirens so you could get through without worrying."

"That's a good idea, tin can." Gavin smiled and gave Nines a light knock "Remind me to buy one later."

"Questionable, but all right."

After following the traffic for what seemed like an eternity, they finally made it to the scene. His old partner Chris and his long time friend Tina were already talking next to the yellow ribbons of the police.

Gavin approached, drawing their attention.

“It seems there was a party here and nobody bothered to invite me" Gavin turned his gaze to the mansion surrounded by tapes and cops talking.

"You’re in luck for not being invited, because this party's going to be a funeral." Tina started walking towards the house and signaled to Nines and Gavin to accompany her. "You're going to have a lot of work there. Apparently there are 4 victims, 3 of them are androids and the other is a human, young by the looks of it, probably no older than 20".

“Oh, shit." Gavin grumbled "Who reported the police?"

"The neighbor. Said he heard screams coming from the house and decided to call. He was afraid to come look and investigate. Which is smart of him."

"All I least wanted was one more possible body to investigate. He's certainly seen investigative films.

"Or he's been through a similar situation." Nines interrupted "Are all the victims in the same room, Officer Chen?"

"Yes, they're all in the room upstairs." Tina approached Nines and whispered something loud enough for Gavin to distinguish her request to Nines to call her Tina and Nines apologizing.

"It's up to you now, boys. Take your time, but not too long because this place is weird."

Cops surrounded the various rooms of the house. Meanwhile, Gavin started climbing the stairs but soon stopped when he saw that Nines wasn't following him.

"Hey, tin can. I thought I heard Tina say the bodies were up there." Gavin grumbled but Nines seemed paralysed for some reason while looking at nothing.

"Nines?" Gavin started coming down the stairs but soon Nines seemed to be back to normal and looked at him again.

"No need to come down, I was just... trying to reconstruct some possible escape that might have occurred around here."

"O-kay..." Gavin knew he was lying.

Incredible as it sounds, they were doing well enough to determine that. The Gavin of months ago would have laughed if anyone had ever told him he had any kind of connection to an android at that point, but times had changed.

Gavin had changed.

He trusted Nines now, and as much as Nines wasn't the type to hide things, even when it would have been better to leave them hidden, he knew that if there was something Nines didn't want to tell, he would let him have that freedom.

The room was lit by the pale sunlight, that was enough for Gavin to see the shapes that occupied the floor.

Two androids with deep holes in the center of their foreheads were sitting with their backs to the wall, almost as if they had been hit at the same time. Thirium covered their faces while an expression of amazement in their eyes remained frozen, now forever.

The third android was lying on his back in the centre of the room, something was shining on the sides of his face, and only after Gavin bent down to inspect better did he notice that it was not Thirium. They were tears.

The concept that divergent androids were able to understand emotions like fear and panic was still something Gavin had some difficulty understanding. But after seeing the scene with his own eyes he could feel the weight of it.

The last body was a few feet away. The scarlet spot on his sweatshirt indicated that this was the human Tina had referred to before they entered.

The young man's eyes remained closed making it impossible to know what his reaction must have been to knowing that he was about to lose his life. Taking a plastic glove out of his pocket, Gavin began to look in the boy's pockets for something. He felt something that looked like a sheet of paper but from a flatter material that resembled some kind of developed photo. Taking it out of his pocket, he realized that's exactly what it was. The photo had been developed on a piece of paper that reminded him of the stamps used in letters sent by mail.

But what really caught Gavin's attention were the two figures in the center of the photo. They were the boy and the android in the center of the room, they were in what appeared to be a photo booth with a background covered by small balloons with clichés of friendship. Gavin remembered the time when he used to go in theme parks with friends during his teenage years. It was so trivial, but he just lived there to the fullest. The laughter, the festive atmosphere, it all seemed to have happened a lifetime ago. He was another Gavin back then.

The LED on the android glowed bright yellow as the boy's hand held his own face. They were kissing. It was a scene that had become common in recent months. After all, if the plastic cans were capable of so much, it wasn't surprising that they were also capable of... love?

The whole thing was starting to give Gavin a headache.

"Detective, I think I got something." Nines called him in, breaking Gavin's reverie.

"Okay, I'm coming." Gavin walked away from the boy's body with the picture in his hands. For a minute he thought about keeping the photo in his own pocket, but what would he get out of it? Besides, it could be useful, and Nines would probably know he was hiding something if he did that.

"The two androids next to the wall are AV500 models. Both were activated by Markus during the Cyberlife assault, so they weren't registered to anyone in particular." Nines put one hand in his pocket and took a brief look at the room before looking back at Gavin "I took advantage of your moment of reflection with the human victim and did an analysis of their thirium and both were killed 2 hours ago, which matches the story told by the neighbor."

Gavin rolled his eyes for a brief second. No matter how long they had been working together, he would never be able to accept the fact that Nines needed to analyze things by putting samples in his own mouth. It was disgusting, strange, and as much as he wouldn't admit it to anyone at all, it was a little sexy.

"Right, right. And the other android?" Gavin put his free hand in one of his jacket pockets.

"I was waiting for you to finish your analysis so I could get started. I have no interest in starting a dog fight for space like the other time." Nines took a disinterested look.

"Humph, then you can do what you need to do."

It was true that the first investigations together had been terrible, with Gavin doing everything in his power to let everyone see how much this supposed partnership would never work. He remembered how submissive Connor was, and that he could do whatever he wanted with him. The scene in the break room was a good example of that. A simple punch made Connor fall and Gavin felt the sweet taste of superiority. But when he tried to do the same with Nines he saw that things wouldn't have the same result. The first attempt at assaulting Nines turned out to be a shame, with Gavin's face stuck to the wall, his arm on his back being held tight enough so that any suspicious movement would generate a result not favorable to him, and a 1.90m android warning that if he tried to do it again, he would not hesitate to send the detective to the nearest hospital.

He tried anyway, but Nines always ended up subduing him easily, and to Gavin's surprise, he never had to go to the hospital because of it.

"There's blood from the victim next to this android's thirium" Nines turned his face and looked at the young man thinking for a moment "Apparently he was close to the human when he was shot."

"So they were really close to each other." Seeing the curious expression on Nines' face, Gavin extended his hand and handed the photo "I found it in the boy's pocket. Apparently he had a thing for plastics like you."

Nines looked at the photo carefully, the LED on the side of his face glowed yellow as if he was trying to understand what was really going on in the photo. The truth was that Gavin wasn't the only one who seemed to have changed in time. He had noticed that Nines was showing certain behaviors that he never imagined would happen.

In the precinct, Nines did not enter with one of the best reputations. Whether it was his intimidating appearance, or his cold behaviour, he made sure everyone tried to keep as much distance from him as possible. Gavin had noticed that he was the only one who actually talked to Nines, even if most of the conversations were bathed in insults from Gavin.

The changes were subtle. First by Tina, who as a consequence of Gavin always being accompanied by Nines even against his will, ended up having to include him in the conversations during breaks in the break room. In time Nines went from being a complete observer to being another one of the people who spoke ill of Gavin in front of him.

It didn't take long before Nines no longer needed Gavin's presence to be able to communicate with the others. Gavin could have sworn he heard his name followed by a brief laugh from the break room one day. That laugh sounded too much like Nines' voice. But he just ignored it, thinking it was some hallucination from insomnia and excess caffeine. A super-advanced android like Nines being able to have the slightest sense of humor was an image he couldn't picture in his mind.

Connor's hesitation at first seemed to be gone, too. More than once Gavin noticed the two of them talking in the halls, Connor as always with an animation like a dog that had just been adopted from a kennel, while Nines kept his serious posture, with only the corners of his lips rising at times as if he tried to smile but did not know how. They were small details that for some reason Gavin ended up noticing even without intention.

"Augusto & Owen."

"What?" Gavin frowned his forehead as Nines' LED went back to the usual blue.

"Those are their names. It's written on the back of the picture."

Nines returned the photo and Gavin could notice the names written in black ink with a little heart in the corner.

"Before you ask, there's nothing in the database for either of those two names."

"I figured. He didn't look like the bad boy type."

"How do you know that?" Nines looked at Gavin with what appeared to be a mixture of curiosity and interest.

Gavin held his gaze for a moment, but then he gave up and faked a bored-eye turn. All he least wanted was to have to explain to Nines that he knew exactly what it was like to be a troublemaker, because he had been one himself. But that was a long time ago.

"Never mind." Gavin crossed his arms and cut the subject "You got four bodies stretched out there, you know what to do."

"Your abrasive temper won't get you anywhere, Detective."

"My 'temper' is what got me where I am today. Now, why don't you start your abracadabra, or whatever you call it, to find out what really went on around here."

"It's called reconstruction. I'm sure you know that."

"Whatever." Gavin turned his back on leaving Nines behind as he tried to look for any clues in the rest of the room.

Nothing in the room really seemed to attract attention. Come to think of it, it was impossible that anyone actually lived in that house. Gavin had noticed when he came in that the few furniture that occupied the house looked like they hadn't seen a cloth in quite a while. A dusty carpet lay rolled up and abandoned next to an old standing mattress.

No matter how abandoned the house looked, it was possible to notice that it was not the first time that the small group had gone there. A bag of what appeared to be some Fast food and cans of soda and the new thirium blueberry flavor were stacked together with a small improvised garbage collector in the corner.

It didn't have to be a mega android robot for Gavin to know they had turned that place into some kind of club. The question now was why they chose that place.

Turning his attention to Nines, Gavin could notice the precise movements Nines made with his head, as if he had followed everything like a private security camera. Gavin had tried to joke about it in the past, but soon gave up when Nines began to cite the differences between his vision and filming from a camera.

Before he could ask if Nines had finished, a strong breeze ran through the room making a batch of dust cover the whole room.

"Shit. My eyes." Scratching his eyes, Gavin went to the window. The window led into the backyard of the house, the brown lawn covered what could have been a garden before. In the background was just an entrance to an open wooded area.

A bird flew past the window making Gavin turn his gaze to the outside corner. Behind the wall was a gutter that swayed precariously with the wind. Gavin could have simply attributed the fact that the gutter was that way to the wear and tear of carelessness and the weather, if not for one small detail. Or rather, two small details in hand shapes that had left clean marks on the gutter that was supposed to be dirty as on the upper part.

Since the clean part seemed to extend to the lower part of the trough that was on the second floor, it was unlikely that whoever the individual was, had climbed instead of descending. They were certainly after someone who wanted to leave as little trace as possible. But he couldn't escape Gavin Reed's powerful vision. Even Nines couldn't have pulled that off.

With a smile on his face he was about to start talking about what he'd discovered, only to find his own android a few inches away.

"Fuck it, Nines." Gavin stepped aside, trying to control his accelerated beats "What's wrong with you? You can't just sneak up on the others."

"My approaching presence would certainly be something easy to distinguish. You are the one who seemed to be too focused on something outside."

"For your information, I found something." Gavin walked up to the window again and pointed to the "You can see how cleaner the gutter is in that part. I'm sure our suspect decided to play the acrobat and went down the chute. Probably knew the shots were gonna draw attention and getting out this way would be faster."

"The house doesn't have back doors, so the only other way out would be to improvise through the window apparently. The human mind is really intriguing."

"Well, it was this human mind here that discovered that." Gavin hit his index finger on his temple with a half a smile "Even these processors of yours wouldn't be able to figure this out."

"I'm sorry to inform you, detective, but I already knew ththe suspect ran out from the window. The reconstruction of what happened has already indicated all this to me."

"You gotta be fucking kidding me." When Nines made no mention of answering, Gavin realized it was the truth. As much as Gavin hated having to admit it, it was impressive how a few minutes of analysis by Nines could have delivered all of this, when a common detective would have needed a lot more effort.

"If it's any consolation, I still didn't know about the gutter. The reconstruction only went as far as the escape through the window, so they were discoveries from both sides."

Gavin knew Nines was just saying that to appease the situation. He'd done it more than once in recent times. The concept that they were partners and needed to help each other was something that was being worked on by both sides. It was still a long road ahead.

"Whatever. What did you find out?"

Nines stopped for a second, the LED glowed quickly almost imperceptibly.

"The bedroom door was open when the suspect entered. There are still small thermal and aesthetic signs that indicate that the four victims were sitting in circles on that same corner where the two androids are together."

Gavin looked back at the pair of androids. Although they were of the same model, they had both given each other a way to differentiate themselves, from hair color to worldly clothing. But it didn't take much to know that they were both different, the lack of LEDs in their temples already showed that.

"The human victim, a.k.a. Augusto , was the only one who took the initiative, apparently." Nines put his hand back in his pocket, Gavin didn't know if that gesture was some kind of glitch or if it simply helped Nines reason better. "He turned and went as far as the suspect was, probably an argument between them occurred which ended with the victim being pushed aside and falling."

"Argument? So it wasn't a random massacre."

"Very hardly. Especially when the killer's next move was to pull a gun from his waist and shoot the two androids right there." Nines took the position simulating what was to say "He had a chance to shoot the three androids but couldn't."

"The little guy over there must have tried to play the hero and advanced on the killer."

"Exactly." Nines walked away and went to where Augusto's body was "They both rolled over trying to take possession of the gun. In that impasse occurred the new shot."

The human imagination was both a gift and a punishment. Only by hearing what Nines described did he fill Gavin's mind with vivid images. He had already dealt with several murders during his career in the police department. And as much as he kept his facade serious throughout the investigation, it was when Gavin came home and lay in bed that he thought the most.

He thought about the lost lives, the future they might have had, how much he needed to make the guilty pay for everything they had stolen from innocent people. The constant insomnia only helped him to dwell on it even more. Like it or not, that was his fuel to move on. It was the reason for his desire to further his police career. Many believed that it was only pure ambition that motivated him to be the way he was, but only Gavin knew the truth. That was all that mattered.

"What I still couldn't understand was why the killer tried to stop the bleeding."

"He what?"

"There are pressure marks on the victim's chest. The size of the hands doesn't match any of the victims, so it could only have come from the killer."

‘Regret?’ Gavin thought by crossing his arms. Now there was no doubt that the killer knew the young Augusto. And taking his life was not in the plans.

"So they knew each other. That explains how the killer found this place." Gavin approached the last android, newly discovered as Owen "He must have realised it was too late to save Augustus and decided to finish the job by taking the life of his plastic-boyfriend."

Nines' response took time.

"No. Owen took his own life."

Gavin was known for always having an answer for everything, but at that moment he really didn't know what to say.

He knew androids couldn't handle high levels of stress, he'd seen with his own eyes in the interrogation room with the android from Carlos Ortiz's basement. Self-destruction was a real thing, as was suicide for humans.

But that was a different scenario than the last time. The motive was different. Gavin had heard that when androids became divergent the greatest fear occupying their minds was death. Looking at that scenario he realised it wasn't quite like that. For some there was something even worse than death itself.

"I think Owen's stress levels were really on edge. It's the most plausible explanation." Nines stood up and crossed his arms in what seemed like a moment of intense analysis.

Gavin frowned. Is it possible that Nines didn't know what he knew? It was almost obvious that from what they had discovered, the reason Owen took his own life was because he had lost what was most important to him. Someone he loved.

But he couldn't be surprised at that. Emotions were something that could only be understood by androids who had already become deviant and Nines was not deviant.

Was that so bad? He had already considered the idea of asking Nines why he didn't want to be deviant, but what he would gain from it. Nines should have his reasons and Gavin didn't want to be that kind of person who likes to give opinions on how others should live their lives. Nines did this to him, making numerous comments about the excess caffeine he ingested and the cigarettes he smoked in the brief breaks he took. But that was different, and Gavin didn't bother, he even thought it was funny sometimes no matter how much he didn't admit it.

"So that's three murders followed by a suicide. That's not exactly how I imagined the week would start." Gavin approached Owen's body. "The murder weapon's not nearby. The bastard must have taken it with him."

"Yeah. He didn't take long at the scene after Owen's act." Nines went to the window looking at the gutter "But he wasn't as careful as he thinks."

Gavin approached and saw what Nines was talking about. Just below where the killer's supposed hands had slipped, part of the chute had broken. It was a subtle break, just enough that whoever had come down there ended up with the sleeve of his shirt stuck. The small piece of fabric appeared with a red spot indicating that in the rush to escape as soon as possible, the killer ended up cutting himself with the metal from the chute.

"The blood must have dried from exposure to the sun, but it should still be useful for identifying the killer." Nines walked away from the window and headed towards the door. "The team must have some material capable of reaching..."

"Humph, I can reach it quietly. Just give me a second." Gavin positioned himself by putting his foot on the edge of the window.

"Detective Reed, that's a bad idea. You're gonna end up falling, and the fall's not gonna be pretty."

"It's not like that. I've done much worse things when I was younger." Gavin's body was already completely on the outside. The fabric was swinging in the wind and Gavin could feel it was very close to reaching. "Just a little more..."

CRACK.

The noise of the cracking eaves was enough to announce that it was a bad idea.

"Shit, shit, shit.” Gavin tried to put the force of gravity in his favour by putting his weight behind him but it was too late. His body began to slide, and since his back was to the house there was nothing to hold on to. The fall would be ugly, and he would fall upright, which would probably end his legs. Gavin was not giving up, but he couldn't see any way out for what would be a fall with too serious consequences.

He closed his eyes waiting for the impact, but he didn't come. What came were two arms that circled his abdomen with strength, bringing his body into the house through the window. Inertia caused both bodies to fall to the ground.

Gavin felt Nines pushing his body away from his and turning to the side to face him.

"I told you it was a bad idea, Gavin. Why can't you hear me when I talk to you?"

Gavin noticed that Nines' tone was completely different from his usual cold, indifferent tone. His LED was glowing with an abrasive red and his eyes were close enough for Gavin to notice that there was something different there. Hell, Nines had called him by his first name, it had never happened before.

"Why did you save me?" Gavin saw his thoughts get too loud to come out of his mouth. They weren't friends, they just tolerated each other enough so they didn't see trouble in having to work together. But saving each other's lives like Nines had just done was something Gavin couldn't have imagined would ever happen.

"I don't want to have to answer to our superiors why a detective's body was found outside a house when he was accompanied only by an android with a reputation for a sentimentless destructive machine." Nines stood up straightening his uniform and turned to Gavin with his hand out "And, I hope you don't let this get over your head, but I've learned to tolerate you. Or as humans say, I like you, Gavin."

After a while trying to process what Nines had said, Gavin accepted the outstretched hand and stood up. He stared at Nines for a while and was stared back by the blue-grey eyes of Nines who seemed to analyze him beyond the soul.

"Humph." That's all Gavin could say as he walked towards the door. Seeing that he was the only one who had moved, he turned back and stared at the android still standing, "Are you going to stand there or what? We have work to do."

He saw Nines nod and finally followed him.

Hoping not to be seen by anyone, Gavin let the corner of his mouth rise in what appeared to be half a smile.

That day had taken an interesting turn.

NINES

| JANUARY 11, 2038 - 3:22 P.M.|

He was different. If his processors weren't state-of-the-art and his systems were adapted for stealth and description, it would be possible to hear his artificial neurons working from meters away.

Nines had predicted that a close relationship with humans would eventually influence him. Humans tend to show emotions automatically, it was something usual of their kind. As well as being individuals with extreme ability to influence each other and other beings. It was in their nature.

And a brief analysis was enough to note what Nines feared before he even saw the result.

| ANALYSIS |

...

| STRESS LEVELS = 81% |

...

| ANTIVIRUS BARRIERS = ERROR |

...

| I AM DEVIANT |

.

.

.

Those three words hovered over his vision as if they had taken physical form. There was Cyberlife's most advanced prototype, an android made to be the perfect blend between spy and soldier.

A deviant.

The fact that Connor became deviant in a few days was something that Nines had already stopped to think about before. Connor had more communication skills than he did, it was the truth, so he was more subject to deviancy. But Nines was different. He had been created to be a true emotionless machine, with only the mission in mind. Deviancy was something he had found impossible for him.

However, living with people like Hank, Tina, Chris... and even Gavin, who didn't miss an opportunity to find a reason to piss him off, had gradually changed him.

He saw each of his barriers against deviation fall at every different moment he lived. When Tina told about the time Gavin had fallen off the new chair she had won at the Department's Secret Santa. When Chris got the wrong umbrella and spent the day having to walk around Detroit with bee prints covering his head. When Connor showed a picture of Sumo lying there waiting to be caressed by anyone who wanted it.

Those were moments that made something respond inside him. Something he didn't understand at the time.

Now, sitting in the passenger seat of Gavin's car, he was beginning to understand. Empathy was something new, he was slowly beginning to learn about it.

Control over the coloring of his LED had been lost, he knew he couldn't control it now and feared that Gavin would notice.

"The last time I checked the calendar, Christmas had already passed." The car stopped at the red light "Would you mind explaining all that light show in your head, tin can?"

"I was just gathering the information on the current case, Detective. This case doesn't resemble any of the ones we've solved so far, so I'm checking for possible causes and results."

Nines felt Gavin's gaze over his LED, which had slowly returned to normal light blue.

"Yeah." The car went back on after the sign opened "Anyway, what was the address again?"

"Take the second right and go three blocks ahead, it's the first green house."

The car took a turn and went along the route.

"You androids know how to be useful sometimes. You can even tell details like what color the house is. Are you gonna tell me you have Google Earth installed in your plastic system?"

"Google Maps actually. And I can see the way through your phone." Nines turned the device towards Gavin who put his right hand in his pocket and realized it was empty.

"What the... How do you know my cell phone password?"

"I don't need advanced systems to see beyond your shoulder in the precinct, Detective."

"How do you... What else did you see?" Gavin used one of his hands and ripped the phone out of Nines' hands that raised a half a smile.

"If you want to know if I've seen your browser history, the answer is no. I'm not interested in knowing the things you research or do in your spare time.

Nines managed to hear Gavin's heartbeat, which had increased in the last few seconds, returning to normal after that last comment.

"However, I admit I ended up seeing the gallery by accident. Why do humans like to take pictures in front of the mirror without a shirt?"

"It's none of your business, plastic." Nines noticed the flush that had gone up Gavin's face and called that a victory.

He had noticed that lately it was quite easy to embarrass Gavin, and he had decided that he would take these little opportunities to embarrass him. It was something Tina had taught him, and he was a fast learner.

The truth was that Nines had not entered Gavin's gallery, he had only based this behavior after a search for human customs. The fact that Gavin actually kept this kind of material on his cell phone was something Nines would still have to learn a little more about why.

The car stopped in front of a popular green house. It was possible to notice that it was well cared for with the bright green facade and the low lawn as if it had been recently trimmed.

Nines took his hand to the door handle of the car waiting for Gavin to unlock it but the unlocking noise didn't come. Turning to the driver's seat, Nines realized that Gavin was still keeping his hands on the steering wheel.

"I was already under certain suspicions that this might happen. Earlier today I had the verdict."

"I don’t understand. What are you talking about?" Nines watched Gavin take his hands off the wheel and cross his arms, slowly turning his gaze in his direction.

"How long ago?" 

"I'm not sure I'm following your reasoning..."

“Deviant, shit! How long have you been deviant?"

"How?" For a second Nines wondered how Gavin had found out. It was a few hours since he had chosen to save Gavin's life and with it have his last act of empathy that broke the last barrier against divergence. He had chosen. It was not his mission, but he had done it of his own free will.

Independence was something incredible. Incredibly energizing and at the same time incredibly frightening. Is that what humans felt every day?

"I'm not deviant, Gavin. I suggest you stop drinking so much coffee and sleeping so little, the effects seem to be affecting your reasoning."

"This isn't about me and you know it." The leather on the car seat made a muffled noise when Gavin turned his body to face it "Whether you like it or not, I know that the same kind of system or whatever goes around in your lying brain is capable of change. God damn it, that walking can Connor was capable of that, and he wasn't a prototype like you?!"

"My systems are more advanced than my ancestors... than Connor's." 

"You see. You're not one to miss even phrases like that." He put his hand on his forehead, "You know what? Never mind. I don't give a shit."

When Nines didn't answer, a deep sigh came out of Gavin's lips. He unlocked the doors and prepared to leave, but he stopped when he saw that Nines' LED was flashing back between blue and yellow.  
"Okay, that was rude. I’m sorry." Nines' apathetic gaze was the only response that was issued at that moment "You know what you do. If you tin cans can be as human as you say, I'll let you deal with it however you want." 

"I don't know if I want that." Nines said breaking his own silence "I was raised not to make mistakes, and I don't need to research to know that most mistakes made by individuals come from the emotions of moments. To imagine that I will be able to make those mistakes is a thought that does not attract me."

"Hey, maybe a lot of mistakes can bring a hit. Isn't that how scientists did those things we have today?"

"They didn't 'do' everything out of nowhere. There was all this research and..."

"Yeah, yeah. No need to do a speech." Nines saw Gavin roll his eyes "Now how about we leave this conversation to after we arrest the killer? The case won't solve itself."

"Whatever you say, Detective."

They got out of the car and stopped in front of the house. Nines looked closely to see if he could see anything out the windows. Gavin went in front but stopped after a few steps.

"By the way, I wasn't sure you really changed until after you called me Gavin. Twice."

Nines raised one of his eyebrows with the information. Actually, even after some protests from Gavin in the last few weeks, Nines always kept his formality. It was something of his system, probably to assist him in possible infiltration and espionage missions. His colleagues in the precinct had noticed, but did not comment on anything, probably considering it was just something of Nines' personality. Now he was no longer sure what it really was.

They slowly climbed the small steps in front and stopped trying to hear some movement. Gavin's hand went to his holster, he looked back and made a confirmation gesture with his head towards Nines. He raised his hand and slammed the door.

There was no answer and Gavin tried again. Nines could see that he was getting impatient with the waiting.

"Enough." Gavin knocked again "Detroit police, open the door."

At that moment a loud noise of something falling can be heard by both of them.

"Damn. Back, plastic." Gavin clearly pushed Nines away as he prepared to knock the door down, but was answered by the touch of Nines' hand on his wrist.

"That won't be necessary." Nines went to the door and turned the knob opening the door. "It's open."

"And why didn't you speak up before, tin can?" Gavin snitched, but then he took the lead with the gun in hand.

The place was a mess. The sink was full of dirty plates, garbage covered the corners of the walls and something smelled bad by seeing Gavin's disgusted face.

"I'll take a look upstairs, let me know if you find anything." Gavin went upstairs and Nines decided to take a look at the room.

Unlike most human houses, this one wasn't covered in portraits or anything that would indicate who actually lived there. Nines passed his hand over one of the bookshelves and noticed that there was a small key hidden inside a decorative plate.

A brief analysis indicated it was an old drawer key. Looking around there was only one lockable drawer in a small cabinet near the sofa. The key turned gently on the opening and Nines pulled out the drawer showing the contents.

In it there was a blue folder with several papers held by clips and post-its with notes. A printed article from an online newspaper printed the first sheet.

"Family Tragedy"

"Car accident leaves two dead and one android.

'...couple leaves two children...'"

"...eldest son reports that the trip was the android's idea for year-end shopping..."

"... 'I didn't want them to go, but those damn android made their minds up. Now we lost our parents because of him.' ..."

"...both will be under the guardianship of an uncle until the eldest turns 18 in four months..."

Nines looked up and saw that the matter was dated 4 years ago. Turning the page there was a picture of the ruined car on the side of the road. Along with there were papers that verified an investigation and proved that the cause of the accident was due to problems with the car brake.

At that moment something slipped out of the briefcase and Nines squatted down to pick it up. His fingers involved what looked like a family photo. Everyone smiled at the photo, and it didn't take much to notice that the little boy in the photo was Augusto. He must have been about five years younger.

There was no doubt that the couple who had died in that accident was exactly the couple in the picture. But something didn't fit.

They had received this address from the forensic team, but it wasn't based on the victim's analysis, but...

"That's not good.”

"GAVIN, I..." Nines' screams were cut when he was pushed hard forward, his physique loudly making noise with contact with the ground.

Before he could react to the unexpected advance, Nines felt something cold pressing on his temple. A weapon.

"Android bastard, how did you get here?"

Nines knew that any sudden movement he made at that moment could make things worse. And now that he had become deviant, there was nothing more he feared than death itself.

"You don't have to do this, John." For a brief second Nines felt the human hesitate when he heard the name "We're only here to understand what happened in the abandoned house."

"As if a fucking android was capable of understanding anything. Everything is going to shit because of you." Nines heard John's finger pull the trigger slowly "You're not gonna ruin my life anymore."

"Drop the gun now." Nines turned his head in the direction of the known voice. Gavin stood in the room with his gun pointed in John's direction.

Nines felt the weight of his body diminishing, and for a moment thought the situation was under control, but was surprised by the noise of gunfire coming from John's gun.

The noise was followed by a muffled cry of pain coming from Gavin. Before he could assimilate what had happened, Nines saw John running towards the back door.

Two options appeared in front of Nines, check Gavin or chase John. If he was still a machine, the first option would never be a choice. But he was no longer just a machine.

Gavin kept one hand pressed against his right arm, Nines realized that the shot had grazed and he was starting to lose blood.

"What are you still doing here, Nines? You should be running after him and not standing here." Gavin stood up still pressing on his arm, "Go, before he's gone for good."

Not knowing why, Nines found himself putting his hand in space above Gavin's wound. Part of his exoskeleton retracted into the place where he'd touched it, as if trying to connect with it. But Gavin was not android, there was no way they could connect in this way. The fingers, now white, did not seem to realize such information, as they continued there with no mention of moving.

"What..." Gavin interrupted himself and walked away from the touch, and Nines saw his skin return "I'll be fine, go now."

Nines looked into Gavin's eyes and made his decision. Settling down, he ran towards the door that John had made his escape.

An analysis of the backyard was enough for Nines to know which escape route had been taken and he soon found himself running in the same direction John had taken.

After a few minutes Nines found himself in the center of the city. People and androids were walking around with bags full of groceries while talking to each other.

"Hey, watch where you're going. You knocked my stuff over."

Nines turned towards the commotion and noticed it was two people. As the woman tried to pick up what had fallen, the man looked around nervously. Until the man's eyes fell on his and Nines realized who it was. The man ran in the opposite direction before Nines could say anything.

Running while dodging from several people without hurting them was a difficult task. Nines knew that he could run into and outrun anyone in front of him because of his strength over human, but that would not be necessary. Moreover, the era of peace between androids and humans should be preserved, Markus and his revolution would not be in vain.

Now that he was a deviant, Nines could understand things better. To be persecuted for simply having his own will was completely meaningless. Humans always had these kinds of feelings, and although they weren't always able to express that freedom, they were able to fight and succeed. The androids have now achieved the same. Times change, but at the same time they remain the same.

Pursuit was one of the skills that was in Nines' programming. So there was no way John could defeat him in that way. When Nines was close to reaching him, John stopped running and turned towards him.

"Fuck, what a pushy android shit you are." He panted with his hands on his waist trying to recover.

"That's enough, John. You can't go against me. It would be smart of you to give up and come with me to the precinct. We want to know what happened to your brother Augustus."

"DON'T YOU DARE SPEAK HIS NAME, YOU LITTLE SHIT." From behind he took the same gun as before and pointed in the direction of Nines "It's your fault he's dead. You're the worst disease that ever appeared in this fucking world."

"It doesn't have to end like this, John. I just wanna know what happened."

"None of this was supposed to happen" Nines noticed John's voice failing to say it, tears threatening to escape his eyes as he kept his gun in his direction "All I wanted was to protect my brother from these androids."

Nines thought we had to keep him talking until the backup arrived. And at that moment people had walked away leaving only the two in the center of the street.

"So you didn't know about Augusto's relationship with Owen?"

"Who? Ah, so that was the name of that fucking robot." Sweat dripped down his face "I had begun to notice that Gus was starting to stay out late late night. He was drifting further and further away and he didn't use to tell me things anymore. I thought it was just teenage rebellion, until I saw a picture of him with this android... I needed to alert him. I needed to remind him of what the androids had done to our family."

"So why did you shoot him if all you wanted to do was protect him?"

"It wasn't supposed to hit him." Tears rolled down John's face "He tried to protect that android. I just... I just wanted his well being. Away from all that artificial intelligence shit. Now I lost the only person I cared about."

"What about the other androids? They hadn't done anything, and yet you shot them in cold blood."

"I don't need to explain myself to you. You're a fucking android too. All your kind can do is ruin lives."

Nines looked discreetly beyond John and could identify a slowly approaching silhouette. It wasn't necessary to think long and hard to know who it was, they knew each other well enough. Before Nines could alert Gavin of the gun pointed in his direction, John seemed to notice Nines' gaze and turned around as Gavin prepared to give him a knock with his gun, deflecting in time and knocking Gavin down hard on the ground.

There was no time to waste. Nines ran towards them both. However, before he could interfere with the clash of the two, he saw Gavin being subdued by John receiving several blows to his wounded arm and apparently passed out in pain.

Nines' stress levels were high and all he wanted at the time was to push John off Gavin and see if he was all right. He could feel his LED heating up and could deduce that he was glowing from an intense red. 

Moving away from Gavin's static body, John again aimed the gun directly at Nines, causing it to freeze in place.

"I could end up with your friend here in the blink of an eye, but I don't care about his existence. You, on the other hand, I'll be glad to end your fucking false idea of life."

No matter where Nines looked, nothing seemed to give hope that moment would end otherwise. All the pre-constructions his brain was doing at that moment ended with the same end. Death.

Nines couldn't imagine that on the same day he would get his deviancy, his freedom, all this would be brutally taken away from him. Just as he was beginning to see things differently, in a clearer, more... human way.

There was so much he still wanted to have done, to have seen, to have...felt. Feelings were so new to him, but he couldn't wait to learn more. 

He had never been more alive, and now, he never would have been.

Closing his eyes, Nines decided not to visually witness what was about to happen. What had become his greatest fear was about to come true. He decided to let his mind wander through good memories, moments spent with Tina, Chris, Connor and Hank. He had the slight impression that that should be what humans used to call family. He now saw how grateful he was for it.

And there was Gavin, the big, grumpy, dirty mouth, Nines' partner. They had started to understand each other better in the last few weeks and there was something about Gavin's behaviour that fascinated Nines. How much he could do and say things with such conviction, how excited he was in his own words. All that had a slight feeling in Nines' chest that he could not identify during his machine state.

But now he had begun to understand what that feeling was. In what seemed like the last moments of his life, he understood what it meant. Unfortunately, it was too late now.

BANG!

The noise of the gunshot penetrated Nines' ears in a raw way. Androids were unable to feel pain, so Nines did not know what it would feel like to die. He wondered if there was anything beyond, but he knew that was a silly question. The concept of life after death was comical to say the least, but Nines could now see why humans cling to this concept. It was an interesting thing to believe.

A few seconds passed and Nines realized that nothing had changed in their systems, no warning sign or deactivation had sounded, which was strange. He decided to open his eyes slowly and looking at his body he could notice that there were no bullet marks.

He soon turned his gaze in the direction where the shot should have come from and that's when he noticed what had happened. John was lying on the ground, a pool of scarlet blood began to surround him. Gavin was just behind him, a gun in his hand still pointing in John's direction, he was half seated and half lying down, leaning on his good arm.

A brief glance was exchanged between the two until Gavin lay on the ground again looking exhausted. Nines approached him kneeling next to a dizzy Gavin, analyzing him, Nines realized that he had used much of his strength to make the shot because his arm was still bleeding even with the improvised cloth, supposedly tied by himself.

"You need to be taken to a hospital, Gavin."

"Don't tell me, Sherlock." Gavin made mention of getting up again, and before he fell back to the ground, Nines helped him sit down. "By the way, you’re welcome, you know, to saving your life."

"I wasn't thanking you."

"Ah, you snobby plastic can" For a second Nines thought Gavin would curse him more, but he started laughing instead "Come to think of it, now we're even, aren't we? Although I'm the one with the fucking bleeding arm and not you. So it's not exactly a hundred percent even because you don't have a scratch on you, which is completely unfair but it's to be expected because..."

"Gavin."

"What? I'm just telling the truth."

"You talk too much." Before Gavin could retort, Nines slowly approached him holding his face "I have a better idea of what you can do."

For a moment Nines thought he should have gone too far, but soon a flush could be noticed rising up Gavin's neck to where his hand touched his face.

"Is that so?" Gavin swallowed dry "And what would that be?"

Understanding the question as consent, Nines soon cut the distance between the two and joined his lips with Gavin. His hand descended from Gavin's face to the base of his neck, holding firmly in place, he felt his skin retract and his white exoskeleton show in the space where he touched Gavin, while his tongue explored Gavin's at a fast, thirsty pace. 

Nines could hear Gavin's heartbeats speeding up and he knew that his own beats were struggling to synchronize with his own. It took them a long time, until Nines noticed a small cry of pain coming from Gavin, causing him to back away.

"Gavin? Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you."

"What?" Gavin must have noticed the look of dread on Nines' face "No, no. It wasn't you. It's just my arm, I think I'd better take care of it soon."

Relief took hold of Nines as he sat down next to Gavin again.

"An ambulance is coming, I called shortly after you took the shot in the house, but I had to change the coordinates here so it'll take a few minutes. Please press the location hard to stop the bleeding."

"I didn't know you cared so much about me, tin can." Gavin laughed and Nines just rolled his eyes

"May I remind you we were kissing a few seconds ago?"

"Maybe I need a replay to see if I really remember." Gavin tried to blink, but he ended up blinking both of the eyes in a strange way.

Before he could roll his eyes again, Nines looked towards John's body on the ground.

"We'll have plenty to explain about this one." Gavin sighed deeply, "A headache for my future self."

"The repulsion he felt for androids was too much. I still don't understand why."

"You can't understand everyone, Nines. Humans are... difficult."

"That's probably one of the smartest things you've ever said, detective."

"I'll take that as a compliment." They exchanged an accomplice smile and Nines noticed the ambulance coming from a distance.

Despite Gavin's protests, Nines helped him up and took him to the ambulance. Nines made sure Gavin went to the hospital and even with Gavin complaining about why he had to go there, he soon accepted when Nines said he would come by later to visit him.

The sky was beginning to darken when Nines stopped in front of a bridge overlooking the Detroit River. The wind from the east moved his hair and his black and white jacket. People and androids were passing by the hills near him, but at that moment he felt as if he were the only one there.

A short smile took over his lips when the blue words took over his vision.

.

.

.

| I AM DEVIANT |

.

.

.

| I AM ALIVE |

.

.

.

Turning in the opposite direction, he knew exactly which direction to go. 

To the hospital.

To Gavin.


End file.
